Sunday, February 17

Honeyed Orange Ginger Muffins (Quat, Optional)

Orangequats

It's February, cold, snowy, blustery February. The time when children and adults don their cozy mittens and puffy jackets to go sledding or ice skating or -- best of all -- build snowmen. That is if you live somewhere where there's weather. You know like "cold," "snow," "storm" and, the granddaddy of them all, "blizzard."

Since I'm in San Diego, I won't be building snowmen anytime soon (it was in the '70s earlier this week). So I've been occupying myself with a different winter pastime -- experimenting in the kitchen with the "quats."

Now it's time for muffins. I actually made three different versions of this recipe, until this past Saturday, when the stars and elements aligned, creating the perfect muffin. Yes, that's a bold statement to make, but after you taste one, you may agree.

Orangequats (also called mandarinquats) are a citrus hybrid of kumquats and oranges. Don’t let their diminutive size fool you. These remarkably juicy fruits have a big, bold orange flavor that is twinged with tartness.

Like kumquats, the entire fruit is edible, including the thin rind. Just watch out for a couple of tiny seeds inside that need to be removed (or spit out, when no one's looking).

Orangequats are wonderful for savory salsas on top of pork and seafood or sliced atop a salad of bitter greens such as frisee. For sweet dishes, try them sprinkled on top of a bowl of vanilla ice cream, sliced and dipped in chocolate, or baked into cakes and muffins.

These sprightly yellow muffins taste and look like sunshine has been baked right into them. When you bite into one, you'll taste hints of honey, ginger, and vanilla and find them chock full of plump, sweet golden raisins and flecks of brightly colored orangequats. So I'm sending them to Lia of Swirling Notions, this week's gracious host of the wonderful Weekend Herb Blogging, created by Kalyn of Kalyn's Kitchen.

Don't despair if you can't find orangequats. These muffins are wonderful with navel oranges as well. I know, I've made and eaten both.

Place rack in center of oven and preheat to 375 degrees F. Spray a 12 mold regular size muffin pan with cooking spray.

If using orangequats, then de-seed them by slicing the fruits into rounds with a sharp pairing knife. Using the tip of the knife, gently pluck out the seeds.

In a large bowl, combine flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, and salt.

In a separate bowl, whisk together oil, egg, and juice. Add the orange pulp, orange zest, ginger, honey, and vanilla, and whisk until just combined. Add to the flour mixture and stir quickly until well combined. Fold in the raisins. Spoon the batter evenly into the 12 molds.

Bake for 18-20 minutes, or until the tops are golden and a cake tester inserted into the center of a muffin comes out clean. Transfer the pan to a rack to cool for 5 minutes before removing each muffin and placing on a wire rack to cool.

53 comments:

I've only had a kumquat once - in Florida. The home where I was staying had an indoor pool, where the owners grew kumquats! I tried to ignore the fact that they were grown in a chloring-air-filled room, but I love just eating the little treat whole. So cute!

Wow, I feel like I could finish those all in one go. I tried to make muffins exactly once, but it was a magnificent flop.. I still feel the pain.. (dramatic)Your pictures have given me some more courage :)

These sound delicious and I'm on a muffin bent now, too, so I'll have to try this out. I was dismayed to not find any -quats at the store beyond the usual kumquats after you got my mouth watering last time.

Oh dear, another one of those fruits I've never eaten or cooked with. I love to pick up new things like that up and experiment. Your blog has inspired me to go searching for them. From your pics, looks like you picked them up at a Farmer's market in town?

What a beautiful post! I love your NPR article, too. My first and thus far only experience with (kum)quats was rather negative: they were halved and served with a bit of burnt caramel atop a mascarpone-pine-nut torte. I think in slightly smaller servings (chopped, thinly sliced, pureed) they might be a bit more palatable...

Susan , i only discovered kumquats last year , and am in love with them every since. Cant find them everywhere, but for me i get them only when i'm in Hongkong. The coconut lemonquat cake looks gorgeous , so do the muffins. U've got me craving come girl :D

ooh, more tantalizing recipes! I still haven't tried a kumquat. I bought a bag of them after one of your previous posts but I forgot that I bought them and had to throw them out : ( next time, I'll remember

Hi Susan, these do look perfect! I have never seen nor tried orangequats before (nor kumquats for that matter!) - thanks for the strking photo of them at the top of your post. Will bookmark this - I am always after the perfect muffin for morning tea to go with my never-ending quest for the non-boring lunch.

And I thought of you this weekend, my sister and brother in law came back to town and for dinner I decided to make their favorite, Phad Thai, which oddly enough I've never had but heard it's good. Yes, I know you're not supposed to have an experiment when guests come but the recipe was too exciting to resist. And it was so fun to do--I had a terrific time and it turned out fabulous. I had to think of you and your cooking prowess and think you'd have been just a little proud of me :)